SPRINGFIELD, Massachusetts The American International College men's lacrosse team battled hard to overcome a seven-goal deficit before ultimately falling 16-11 to Dominican College in the final nonconference matchup of the 2019 season on Tuesday, February 26.

FAST FACTS:
Final Score: Dominican 16, AIC 11.
Records: The Yellow Jackets fall to 0-5, while the Chargers improve to 1-1.
Location: Ronald J. Abdow Field, Springfield, Massachusetts

STAT LEADERS:
AIC:
Quinn Caesar: Six goals, five ground balls, two caused turnovers
Sal Amaral: Two goals, two ground balls
Matt Quinlan: One goal, one assist
Avery Foye: One goal, two ground balls
Eric Mackowski: One goal
Rony Lopez: Five ground balls, two caused turnovers
Clark Marchand: Eight faceoff wins, four ground balls
Stephen Stratton: Loss (0-5), 11 saves, one assist, one ground ball

Dominican:
Nick D'Alessandro: Five goals, two ground balls, two caused turnovers
Ryan Fischer: Four goals, five ground balls
Daniel Carson: Three goals, one assist
Luke Martini: Two goals, one assist
Stephen Falco: 18 faceoff wins, 11 ground balls, two assists
John Rooney: Win (1-1), 10 saves in 58:57

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Dominican started off rocket hot, striking just 45 seconds into the game and ultimately six times in the first quarter, with the run only interrupted by a goal by senior midfielder Quinn Caesar at the 8:02 mark.
• Though Caesar added a second goal to start the second quarter at 1:01, the Chargers added to the lead; back-to-back goals by Nick D'Alessandro at 7:27 and 7:35 had the Chargers up 9-2.
• Freshman midfielder Sal Amaral notched a goal just 15 seconds after D'Alessandro's tally, and Caesar completed a first-half hat trick with a goal at 8:18. From there, the defenses held, and Dominican entered the break up 9-4.
• Out of the halftime stoppage, AIC went on a run. Caesar struck first at 3:31, and Amaral followed at 4:08. The Yellow Jackets then drew two penalties and converted on both, as junior attacker Matt Quinlan and freshman attacker Eric Mackowski struck at 7:14 and 7:38 to cut the deficit to one. Four minutes later, freshman attacker Avery Foye scored, and the home team had leveled the score at 9-9.
• The tie lasted just 11 seconds before D'Alessando scored to put Dominican back ahead, 10-9, which was the score after three.
• The teams traded goals early in the fourth, with D'Alessandro and Caesar notching tallies to make the score 12-10 at 3:04, but the Chargers scored two quick goals to take a lead and then held on down the stretch, holding AIC to just one more goal by Caesar for the 16-11 final.

NEXT UP:

• AIC opens the month of March by opening Northeast-10 Conference action with a tilt at Adelphi on Saturday, March 2 at 3 p.m.

STAY CONNECTED:

• For more updates about the AIC men's lacrosse team, follow @AIC_Lacrosse onTwitter and@jacketslacrosseonInstagram, and likeAmerican International Men's LacrosseonFacebook. For updates on all AIC Yellow Jackets teams, follow@AICAthleticsonTwitter andInstagram, and likeAIC Yellow JacketsonFacebook.